THE W
by The wicked hand of death
Summary: SCULLY NEEDS A VACATION


I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS. FOX AND CHRIS CARTER DO

THIS IS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT FANFIC.

I WILL MENTION THAT THE WHOLE TIME THAT I WAS WRITING IT, I HAD NO DIRECTION NOR PLOT. BASICALLY, I WAS WINGING IT.

THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILERS TO THE NEWBIES WHOME HAVE NOT WATCHED THE LATER SEASONS. i AM NOT POSITIVE THOUGH

**_THE W_**

June 22, 2008

J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building

Dana Scully was never late. Fox Mulder was starting to worry that Duane Barry had resurrected from thedead to re-abduct his partner. Mulder knew that Barry was

dead, but he had quite a few nightmares about him and the original abduction of Scully within the last few weeks.

Looking a second time at the clock, she was now 45 minutes late. "Where could she be?" He

wondered aloud. He fiddled in the side pocket of his jacket that was draped over the back of the

chair. He pulled out his cell phone as well as long white envelope that read 'Mulder' on the front.

It resembled Scully's handwriting. He had no idea what this could be or when it got into his jacket.

He had just left his apartment with Scully still there lying in his bed.

The night before, Scully called Mulder in tears saying that something had happened to her mother.

He told her to come over so she could talk. One hour later, she showed up at his door, soaking wet

and crying.

The petite redhead was soaking wet from walking for an hour in the rain. She lightly knocked on his

apartment door and was startled by the four of the apartment number turning upside down. She

wondered if she could even talk when Mulder would ask her what happened. With this happening to

her mother and then six months prior her only living brother and his family being involved in a fatal

car crash, she felt so alone now.

Mulder unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door. All he could look at was the pale face with the

glistening moisture rolling downwards. He turned his head away from her to look behind himself to

notice out the window that it was pouring rain. 'Was I that enthralled in The Fly?' He thought to

himself.

He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her through the threshold. He shut the door behind

them and turned her around "Scully, let's get you out of those wet clothes" Mulder said as he was

wiping the tears from her face with both of his thumbs while holding her head in his hands.

Mulder started walking to his bedroom to get her some clothes and a towel.

He was wondering if she would just want to--

"Mulder, would you mind if I took a shower?" That was exactly what Mulder was thinking of asking

her, but he did not want to get too personal. Mulder and Scully had had a personal relationship

for at least 10 of their 15 years together in the F.B.I. But it was never personal in that sense.

"Sure, Scully, whatever you need. I will get you some fresh clothes and a towel." Mulder said as

he was fumbling around in his dresser drawers for some clothes. All he could find was a t-shirt and

a pair of sweatpants.

He walked out of the bedroom and opened the door to the hall closet that held the bath towels. He pulled out the softest towel for her while a couple of movies that "weren't his" fell to the ground. He glanced at her and noticed the tiniest glint of a smile cross her face. He knew that she knew what the DVD's were. He picked them up from the floor and placed them on the top shelf and shut the door.

Walking towards Scully, all he could say was "I don't know how those got there...they're not mine."

He had the goofiest grin on his face trying to make the tiny smile grow larger. Her grin got a little

larger; He always knew how to get her to smile.

"Here you go, Scully. Are you hungry at all?" She nodded. "Alright, I'll have a pizza waiting for

you when you get out."

She sat the clothes and towel on the end table next to his couch so that she could get a glass of

water. He sat down and wondered what had happened. He looked over across the room and notice

Scully turning the bathroom light on and shutting the door.

He sat on the leather couch and picked up the phone to order the pizza. If he remember right, she

liked supreme with extra mushrooms. Once done with the order he listened intently to the water

being turned on.

The sound of wet clothes hitting the floor made him remember the first case that they were on in

Belefleur, Oregon when she ran into his hotel room asking what the three bumps were on her back. He

knew that she thought she was going to be abducted by the same beings that were abducting the

teenagers of the town; although she did not believe in the supernatural due to there not being

enough scientific evidence.

He looked over next to him and noticed that she had forgotten to take the clothes and towel in with

her. After picking them up, he walked to the bathroom and tapped on the door. He heard her say

"Yes?" in a quivering voice. He realized that she was crying again.

"Scully, you left the clothes and towel out here." He wondered if she would actually let him come

in. He wouldn't be able to see anything, but it was still a thought in the back of his mind.

"Bring them in, Mulder...It is fine. Just lay them on the sink." She felt comfortable with him. If she

did not feel comfortable with him, they probably would not still be partners after 15 years.

In the 15 years of their partnership in the F.B.I. they had been through a lot. Aliens, abductions, werewolves, etc. can push the boundaries of any normal partnership. Through it all, they were still together. He slowly opened the door, hearing the creeks of the old hinges that were probably the original

parts. Laying the articles on the sink, he glanced over towards the shower and noticed the outline

of her petite body. Her head in the palms of her hands, her body shuttering due to her crying.

"Scully, when you get out, we can talk if you want." He said reassuring her that he was there for

her.

"Thank you." was all that she could muster the strength to say. She didn't know if she would be

able to talk, but she also knew that he would not pry and would let her tell him when she was ready.

He heard the knock at the door and shut the bathroom door. Walking to the front door, he picked up

his wallet. He flipped through the wallet and wondered if the delivery kid was going to have enough

change to break a hundred.

Opening up the door, more creeks came from the hinges. "Do you have enough change to break a

hundred" He asked the pimply delivery driver. He was thinking that this kid was still in high school

just trying to make enough money so that he could move out of his parents as soon as he

graduated.

The kid pulled a large amount of money out of his pocket and told him "yeah." He handed Mulder four

twenties and a one. Mulder took the twenties and told the kid to keep the dollar. "Thanks,

mister." The kid had a very sarcastic tone, wondering why this guy was a bad tipper. He always

rushed the food over and was always polite, but was never tipped well, the kid thought as he turned

and started to walk away.

As Mulder shut the door, he heard the water shut off. He wondered if there was going to be a drop

of hot water left or was that the reason she was done. He didn't mind either way.

Setting pizza on the coffee table, he remembered to get plates. As he walked passed the bathroom

he asked Scully if she wanted something to drink.

She asked him if he had any wine. "I think I have some red, if that works for you." Mulder told her

as he was looking in the refrigerator.

"That's fine." Her voice sounded normal and not as quivery as it was when she was in the shower.

She finished toweling off, put Mulder's clothes on, and rapped her hair up in the towel. She pulled

the black sweatshirt up to her nose and took a deep breath and took in the smell of his cologne.

It almost smelled of Tommy cologne, but knowing Mulder, it as probably just a knockoff. If it was,

it was a good knockoff.

She walked out of the bathroom, after hanging the towel up, and smiled when Mulder had two

plates, one slice on each, two glasses of whine, and a candle. She knew that it wasn't a

romantic gesture, but that Mulder knew her that well. Just having the strawberry scented candle

would relieve enough stress so that she would be able to talk.

"Mulder, why do you have a strawberry scented candle, or do I even want to know?" A smile

wandered across her face, as she unwrapped the towel from her head and started to dry her hair

with it. She sat down on the couch and put the towel across her lap.

"You, know, I really don't know. I remembered that I had it and put it out knowing you liked

strawberry scented candles. And I figured it would be good for you." He knew the real reason

why he bought it, but didn't feel comfortable telling Scully that he bought it for a girl that he was

"seeing" a year ago.

"Well, thank you, Mulder. It is a comforting sense." She wondered if she should begin to tell him.

"So, Scully, do you want to tell me what happened?" He said as he was handing her the plate,

getting his, and sitting back into the couch. He knew that she was prolonging the issue.

"A drunk driver broadsided her as she was driving to my apartment earlier. She was pronounced

de--ad when the paramedics arrived. They established that the drunk driver ran the red lighted

doing approximately 60 miles-per-hour. Her head hit the door window with such" Scully

could not say anymore and dropped her head into the palm of her hands and started sobbing.

All Mulder could do, was take the plate out of her hands, tell her that it as okay and take her into

his arms. He pulled her close and tight enough that he swore he could feel her heart beating fast

enough that it could possibly jump right out of her chest. Her body was shuttering with every inhale

she was taking. "You don't need to tell me anymore."

Her head fell into his lap and he started stroking her flame red hair. It smelled of his tea tree

shampoo. He held her and stroked her hair for close to an hour in silence, since the television

was not on, watching the orangish red flame of the candle. He could not stop thinking of what she

was going to, knowing exactly what she must be feeling. He was in the same spot close to ten

years ago.

Noticing that she stopped crying, he realized that she must have fallen asleep. How long ago, he

wondered.

He decided that he should probably wake her up and get her to go to bed. He rubbed her upper

arm quietly saying her name so that she might calmly wake up. He said her name a little louder

and she abruptly awoke yelling "NO! Stop!"

"Scully, it's me. You're safe. Maybe we should get you to bed, huh?"

She sat up, and rubbed her eyes wondering what time it was. Looking around and noticing where

she was and what she was wearing, she sighed because she had realized that earlier was not

just a bad dream, but real.

He looked at her and could almost read her mind, knowing exactly what was going through her

mind. "C'mon. You can have my bed tonight."

Scully stood up and started to walk to the bedroom. She stopped midway and asked Mulder to

come with her as tears started to well up in her eyes once again. How could he deny that quivering

lower lip? He stood up and followed her to his bedroom.

This was not the first time that they had spent the night together in bed; although it seemed as

if it were the way Mulder was acting. A memory rushed through his brain like the water about to

cross over the crest of a deep ravine. The memory of the last time they spent the night in the

same bed 8 years ago.

They were running away from the government, driving south; although they were told to cross

the Canadian border. Mulder came across a hotel and decided to stay there for the evening.

He had Scully stay in the car while he went in to get a room. When he walked out of the

office, she noticed he had only one key, and a calming sense rushed through her body like a beam

of sunlight on a summer day at the beach.

He gestured her to follow him. She felt for her coat, laying in the back seat, so that she could get

her pistol of the pocket. They both new that they might have to use it at any moment since they

were being chased. With any luck at all, the government was heading the opposite direction.

Skinner and Kersh were going to lie for them.

After finding the pistol, Scully opened the door of the car and followed Mulder to a room three

doors down from their car. He looked behind him and said, "Sorry Scully, it looks like there was

only one room left", with a grin of sarcasm.

"Well, Mulder, it must be fait." She said with the off sided look of 'Sure it was, Mulder.' as she

walked passed him while he was holding the door open for her.

Scully laid down in the bed and curled up in the fetal position. This was a sign of her weaker

side and Mulder knew that she was terrified and thinking about what the uncertain future may

hold for the two former F.B.I. agents.

He stood there looking at the red headed angel and felt a rush of sympathy come over him. If it

wasn't for him, she would not be in this predicament. While thinking this, he laid next to her held

as tight as he could.

She turned over and looked him straight in the eyes as if to say thank you.

"Mulder...Mulder? Are you okay?" She could tell that something was going on in his brain. Not

sure exactly what, but she could only imagine.

Her hand met his and she ran her thumb across the top of his hand. It shook him out of the

memory and his eyes grew wide for a second due to being startled. Mulder took her hand and

pulled it up to his lips to kiss the palm. It wasn't a romantic gesture, but he wondered if it would be

taken that way.

Scully smiled, pulled her hand away, and continued to the bed. She pulled the bedding back and

laid down. A calming sense came over her as she curled up into the fetal position. It almost

seemed as if she could sense what Mulder was thinking when the memory of the last time

surged through is brain, as she started to remember the same one herself. 'Thank God that Mulder

got rid of that waterbed', she told herself grinning.

Mulder covered Scully up noticing the glint of a smile crossing her face. He wondered what

could possibly be going through her head at that moment; wondering if it could be thoughts of what

would come next or if it was just memories, as he smiled. "Alright, Scully, here you go. I'll see

you in the morning."

Her heart sunk to the coldest, darkest, deepest part of the oceans hearing those words. 'Why can

he not see that I want him here with me. I have not need him to be close to me in so long.' She

was let down and wondered if he was unsure that that was what she was implying.

Just as he started turned to walk to the living room, she wrapped her hand around his to signal that

she didn't want him to leave. Sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest, she said, "Mulder, I

need you tonight. Could you not tell that? Are you that wrapped up in your own emotions right now

to not see that?" She could not tell where these hostile words were coming from. It was not like

her to be that blunt.

Mulder stood there for a second in awe. He could not believe what she had said, and he could

not believe that he was stupid enough to not see what she wanted. "I'm sorry, Scully. Let me

get you some water real quick and I will be right back, okay?" The room was dark, but he could

see the outline of her head nod.

She pulled her knees as close to her chest as possible and wrapped her arms around them,

interlocking her two hands together. The sound of a glass breaking on the floor and Mulder yelling

"Damnit!" loud enough to wake-up any neighbor within a 4 apartment radius, scared her. She

jumped out of bed and ran out to the kitchen to make sure that he was okay. "Mulder! Are you

okay?"

Mulder was crouched down picking up the shards of broken glass, cussing under his breath. Not

cussing solely of glass, but because he felt incredibly stupid for what he had done to Scully. "I'm

fine...go back to bed, I will be there in just a minute after I clean this up.", he said as he was

crouching down again.

As Scully was walking back to the bedroom, she looked back and notice the small of Mulder's

back peering out between his blue denim jeans and black t-shirt. She turned around and was

walking towards Mulder as slow enough to him that by the time, she reached him he would be done

picking up the shards.

"Dana, I told you to go back to bed! Why do you always have to be this damn stubborn?!" 'Why

did I just yell at her? What is happening?' He thought to himself as he noticed a drop of blood was

forming on the tip of his right index finger. As soon as he realized that he was bleeding, he stood

up to throw the rest of the glass in the garbage and to get a paper towel for his finger.

Scully did not even turn around to see what had happened. She couldn't figure out what was

happening to Mulder. Was it stress; what was it? She decided that she would just let him be.

'He will come when he's ready, if at all.' ,she thought as she curled up back in his bed.

A few minutes later, Mulder walked into the bedroom and could hear a slight whimper coming from

Scully. He truly did not mean to yell at her especially in this time of need for her.

Walking over to the other side of the, he pulled off his t-shirt and threw across the room towards the

dresser and slipped out of his jeans and crawled into bed. He laid on his back for a moment until

she turned over to face him.

As she did this, he rolled onto his left side and saw a section of hair fell in front of her face and

he brushed it behind her ear. He noticed a glint of moisture running down her cheek and ran his

thumb over it to wipe the tear away. "Scully, I am sorry that I yelled and you. I don't know what came over me. I hate seeing you in this pain and it upsets me so much.", he said as he laid his right arm

over her midsection. Although it was dark, he could see the outline of her lips curl up. He knew at

that point that she was calm once again. He then noticed that she had fallen asleep.

Mulder awoke at 5 a.m. to find Scully laying in the same position that she had fallen asleep in.

She looked peaceful enough that Mulder decided that he was going to let her continue sleeping, but

he did leave the alarm on for her. He got out of bed slowly to make sure not to wake her so that he could get ready for work.

Mulder turned the envelope over and opened it, not knowing what he was going to be reading, or what the plane ticket that fell out of the envelope was for. He glanced at the letter, and in fact it was her handwriting.

_Mulder_

_I have decided to take a few days off from work. Enclosed is a plane ticket for you and I hope that you find this in time to reach the flight. I will let tell you why when you get there. There is a reservation for you at the W Hotel in downtown__._

A quizzical look rushed over Mulder's face. He was trying to figure out what Scully was up to. He looked at the ticket for a few minutes and thought out loud "Shit, I have two hours 'til the plane takes off. That's barely enough time after going through screening." He grabbed is jacket and ticket and ran out the door.

Scully didn't understand what was going on. Why did she decide she was going to do anything that she was about to do? Was it because she wanted to take their relationship that much closer to the next level? All she knew was that she wanted to get out of town for a few days and so she put in vacation for both she and Mulder for a couple of days. She knew he needed just as badly as she did.

Because of this, she got up at 3 a.m., hoping to not wake Mulder up and booked two separate flights. For that split moment, she thought that computers were a wonderful thing. The printer started to make some awkward clunking noise as it started to print out the confirmation and itinerary. She was wondering if the printer was going to wake him up, so she pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and laid it over the printer to hopefully muffle some of the noise out.

She rummaged around his desk for an envelope so that she could put the confirmation in. She opened a drawer full of old case files dating back to the 70's. She wondered 'Why would he still keep these here.' Under the stack, she found one lone envelope. She pulled it out, found a pen, and wrote his name on the front. Looking around the apartment, she found his suit jacket and put the envelope in his inside breast pocket.

Just after Mulder left his apartment, she called Assistant Director Skinner and told him what had happened with her mother and that she wouldn't be in. She also told him Mulder was going with her. She thought it was going take some coercing regarding Mulder, but Skinner just said "I'm sorry to hear about your loss Agent Scully. That's fine. Let me know when you will be coming back."

A half hour after the conversation with Skinner, she left for the airport and got onto the next flight to Seattle, WA.

When she boarded the plane, she had to double check her ticket to make sure that it was the right seat. Sitting in the isle seat was a portly old man that was already snoring, drool running down his jaw. 'This is going to be fun. Why do I always get stuck sitting next to these guys?'

She shook the guys shoulder trying to wake him up, but it did nothing; this guy was out cold and there was no waking him up. Looking around, she noticed that no one else was boarding and noticed that there were two empty seats in the back. Yes, it was next to the lavatory, but it was better than sitting next to a slob.

She sat in the window seat and buckled in as the captain came on the intercom telling the passengers to have a seat and buckle in. She felt a drop of sweat drip from her forehead onto her cheek, unbuckled her seatbelt so that she could turn the air on. Sitting down and buckling her seatbelt back up, she noticed how nice the cool breeze felt on her. She lifted her blouse up from her chest to get some added cool air.

After thirty minutes they were in the air. The captain came on and told them that it was going to be smooth sailing with clear skies and approximate flight time was 4 hours and 56 minutes. She thought that they should be arriving in Seattle at approximately 10:00 AM PST, and Mulder would be arriving at 12:00 PM PST.

She stared out the window for much of the flight with a smile on her face and wondered what was come about with the "vacation" and wondered if Mulder would really come to Seattle. She didn't even know what the plan of attack would be once she stepped foot off of the flight, other than find the nearest JC Penney's to by some clothes seeing as she was in such a hurry to get to the flight that she forgot her clothes, and take a cold shower. She knew what she would like to do, but just didn't know how to go about it.

Mulder ran outside and noticed how hot it had gotten since he went into the building a few hours previous. The temperature was only 79º, but the humidity made it feel like 90º. Taking his jacket off, he hailed a cab. Noticing that every cab driving by had a passenger or two in them he thought 'this must be the wrong time of the morning to be doing this' when it took almost 5 minutes for a cab to stop.

"2630 Hegal Place in Alexandria, as quick as possible, please" Mulder told the cabbie. He could hear the tires squealing and looked behind him in the window to see the car behind them be cut off. He was happy to find the one cabbie that wanted a big tip. At this rate, it would only take 10 minutes to get to his apartment. That would mean he would have 5 minutes to spare to pack and 30, instead of 45 minutes, to get to the airport. With any luck he would have 30 minutes to get through security. That wouldn't be hard since all he would have to do is show his badge.

Pulling up in front of his apartment building, he told the cabbie to wait. He ran to his apartment and fumbled through his keys to find the right key. He unlocked the door, grabbed his duffle bag and started putting clothes to it, not knowing exactly what he needed to take. Grabbing the bag full of clothes, he walked into the bathroom to get some toiletries and threw them in with the jumbled bunch, ran out the door, and got in the cab.

The cabbie stopped right in front of the terminal for the flight. Mulder handed him the fare and a 20.00 tip. Mulder was so curious and deep in thought that he almost forgot his bag.

After 20 minutes, Mulder was barely able to make it on the plane. He didn't know what was so important in Seattle of all places.

Scully decided that she was going to get some clothes first, then head to the hotel. She was looking all over the department store, but couldn't find anything that suited her style since Penny's had already started to put out the fall clothing line. Luckily she walked over to back corner of the section and found some clothes on the clearance rack. She decided on a couple of cotton tanks in different colors and a short sleeve light green shirt.

In all of the rush, she was forgetting about her mother's death the night before. That was the point. Thankfully, all of the arrangements were made regarding Maggie's death a few years ago. The only thing that Scully would have to do is go to the mortuary and pick up her mother's ashes. Since Ahab was cremated, Maggie had decided to do the same thing and have her ashes spread in the same place.

She wondered for a moment if she really wanted to go to the lingerie section, but decided that she needed to buy underwear as well. She looked all over and decided on some plain items, but found a two piece set that was navy blue and black in silk and lace as well as a silk burgundy strapless corset with matching panties. She didn't know why, but she really liked the pieces. Then she looked down the isle and noticed the bathing suits. Walking over, she wondered if she as going to need it, although she really felt the urge to go for a swim in the pool at the hotel due to the heat. It was not like her to go for a two piece, but there were a lot of things that she was doing that was not of her to normally do. She settled for the black one once again.

She walked up to the cashier counter and put the armful of clothes and makeup on the counter. The cashier asked how she was doing while ringing up each item. She rang up one of the tanks and started telling Scully thanks for reminding her to buy one before they were sold out. "Alright, your total comes to 72.54. Would you like to put that on your Penney's card?" Scully shook her head and said no as she was wondering how much it really would cost without the clearance prices.

Walking out of the department store doors, she noticed that the temperature had risen at least 5º. She was thankful that the humidity wasn't as much as it was back in DC, but it felt just as bad. All she wanted to do was to catch the next cab and get to the hotel so that she could take the cold shower that she had wanted for the last 6 hours. She looked at her watch and noticed that it was a mere hour until Mulder should be touching down.

Mulder awoke to the plane shake and the wheels screeching as they touched down. In a daze, he was looking around trying to remember where he was going. He saw the itinerary and letter that he was holding in his hands and realized where he was and what he was doing there.

He was surprised to look out the window and notice that the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. Having been in the northwest a few times, it was always cloudy and raining. He had pulled a sunflower seed out of his pocket and started to deshell it with his teeth moving the seed to the side of his mouth, and pulling the shells out of his mouth. 'That one was a salty one', he had thought to himself.

The plane had pulled up next to the corridor, and he could hear the ding from the seatbelt light go off. Thankfully he was at the front of the plane, so it would not take long before he was off and hailing a cab. He waited to stand up until after the lady next to him could pick her carry-on luggage out of the above compartment. All of a sudden, she sneezed right on his shirt without even apologizing. It had almost seemed that she, herself, didn't realize she had sneezed at all. He grabbed the napkin out of his pocket that he had kept when the stewardess gave him one to put under his drink and wiped the spittle off of his shirt.

As he was walked through the corridor from the plane, he had tried calling Scully one last time. He was really worried by now, confusing thoughts running through his head. What was she up to? Why did she want him to come out the Seattle of all places? Did it have to do with her family? Still no answer and he didn't leave a voicemail this time. Why the W? He knew the W was the most expensive hotel in Seattle, after a friend had told him that he had stayed there one night for 450.00. At that point, he had realized that this had nothing to do with what had happened the previous night.

After trying to hail a cab for almost 10 minutes, a young man in his twenties had come up next him and told him that they could share a cab if he was going into downtown. "I got smart, sir, after waiting almost an hour last time. I called a cab as soon as I got off my flight this time. It should be here anytime now."

If this was the case, Mulder definitely wanted to share the cab with kind man. He knew that people on west coast were nicer than on the east. "If you don't mind. I'm in big hurry to get to the W. Ya know over on the east coast if you were to ask someone for the time of day, they would automatically assume you were trying to mug them and scream bloody murder."

"Ah, an east coast boy huh? Born and raised here on the west myself…wouldn't take a free million dollars to move over there myself. Never been there, and never want to go. Sorry, my name is Paul." The young man said, putting his hand out to shake Mulder's.

Mulder shook his hand and told him, "Mulder, nice to meet you, and thanks."

"Ah, here we go. This must be ours." Paul said as he was picking up his suitcase.

After they got in the cab and shut the doors behind them, Paul asked Mulder what he did for a living.

Mulder was so deep in thought that he hadn't heard Paul.

"Sir…yoo-hoo. Earth to Mulder."

"Oh sorry. I'm agent with the FBI. Hey, do you know of a really great restaurant here in Seattle?"

Paul figured out that Mulder's mind must be on something important. He sat thinking for a second and was starting to get scared by the cabbie's driving. "Let's see, in downtown, or out? In downtown, there are a bunch of great places. If you have the money, Palisades is great and it's on the waterfront. You could easily spend a hundred for two people…That's without drinks. If you want something cheap but good, Pike Place Market has a good restaurant on the top. It's great food, but no good as Palisades. If you go there, sit in the Orchid Room if you're with someone special. There is more privacy since everyone likes to sit in the main room or on the patio this time of year."

"Alright. Thanks. I think that will be good. Should I make a reservation?"

"I'll make one for you right now. My brother works down there. Is it going to be just you, or more?" Paul said as he was getting his phone out of his bag.

"Me and someone special." Mulder said with a grin on his face. He was almost getting giddy with excitement. He was starting to feel like a teenager on his first date.

Paul nodded to acknowledge what Mulder was saying. "Hey Jon. Is there anyway you could get a reservation for a friend of mine at 9:00? His name is Mulder and there will be two of them. Put them in the Orchid room if possible….Alright. Thanks, I owe you BIG TIME. Tell mom and dad that I'm back in town when you see them tonight. Later." He flipped his phone and slid it his pants pocket. "OOOH. This is my stop. How much?"

The cabbie told him 45 "Here 55. Take this man to the W, oh and your reservation is at 9:00 even though they close at that time, but don't worry about it. My bro owes me a lot." He handed the money to the cabbie and shook Mulder's hand as he was getting out of the cab and shut the door behind him.

Mulder was happy to have met Paul. He hadn't realized how much Paul had really helped him. A thought just occurred to Mulder. He had a small inkling as to why Scully wanted to come out here. How long had it actually been since they were out of town and not on a case. Never the two of them alone.

With everything that had occurred within the last two days, her mom dying and him yelling at her for just trying to help, it had to be a vacation. Maybe it as just wishful thinking.

"Hey, take me to the nearest jewelry store."

Scully got out of the shower and noticed that it was almost 1:30 looking at her watch on the counter. "He should be there by now. Let me guess, some alien decided that this would be the best time to re-abduct Mulder. Should I call him? I wonder if he even made the flight, let alone found the envelope. Now, where in the hell is my phone?" Scully towel dried her hair and wrapped the towel around her moistened body as she walked into the bedroom looking for her phone.

She picked it out of her jacket and noticed that she had 4 missed calls. Opening the flap, she found that all 4 calls were from Mulder. "Shit. I need to call him." The phone rang 2 times and his voicemail kicked in. She just about threw the phone across the room, she was frustrated with not knowing if he as going to make it or not. "Hey Mulder, it's me. Call me when you get this." She closed the flap and was startled by the phone ringing.

"Scully."

"It's me. Where the hell are you?" Mulder had decided that he was going to play it off and make her think that he hadn't come. He was trying to figure out how he was going to get her to come to Palisades.

"Mulder, you didn't get the envelope?"

Mulder could see her squirming from worry, biting her lower lip. He loved the visual. For some reason, he loved it when she had that look on her face. "What envelope? All I know is I have been at the office all day, wondering where the hell you were. I leave this morning with you in my bed, and nothing. No show. Are you okay?"

A sigh came out of her mouth. She thought 'Shit, what the hell am I going to do now for three days?' "Yeah, I'm fine Mulder. I decided to take a few days off. I'll be back in Thursday early morning, and regarding the envelope, don't worry about it."

"K. Let me now when you come in and I'll come get you from the airport."

Another sigh came out. "Okay. Thanks Mulder." She hung up and looked around. She had this huge hotel room for three days. What was she going to do? She went to the bedroom to put some clothes on.

The hotel room phone rang a few minutes later and startled her to the point that she had almost jumped out of her skin. "Yes?" She said putting the phone up her face.

A squeaky male voice was heard on the other end of the line, "Ma'am. An agent Mulder called here and told me that he had made a reservation for you at Palisades on the waterfront. He said that he figured that you would need and enjoy it."

"What is Palisades?" What kind of place was this and why did he make a reservation for her, she thought.

"It's a very expensive ritzy restaurant. I would definitely dress nice if I were you. He said the bill was on him as well, and not to worry about paying for it. They already have his credit card info. That's all I know. Other than I have already called you a cab to be here at 8:30."

"Alright, thanks. Can you call me when it gets here, please. Thanks" She said as she hung up the phone.

"Well, that was a wasted shower. I guess I can go for that swim that I wanted." She said out loud to herself as she was walking back to the bedroom to get her bathing suit. When she walked into the bedroom that was almost as big as her apartment, she decided that she was going to take a nap instead of going for that cool swim. She fell asleep thinking of what she was going to do with herself for the next three days.

She woke up to hearing a knock on the door. She awoke in a panic thinking that the cab was already there. Noticing that it as only 7:45, she realized that she wasn't late and that it was actually a refreshing nap.

She was tying up the bathrobe that she wound waiting for her in the closet, courtesy of the hotel as she was walking down the stairs to the door. It was a black silk robe that felt cool and soft against her skin. A knock came again just as she was putting her hand around the knob.

A young girl, probably no older than 20 was holding a dress bag up towards Scully. "Someone sent this here from Nordstrom's and wanted us to bring up to you." This girl looked so depressed and Scully wondered if she was wearing the dark makeup and black hair because she was what the new generation called Emo.

Scully took the bundle from the girl. The girl cleared her throat as to kindly mention 'Where's the tip lady?'

Scully turned around, laid the dress on the back of the white suede couch and asked the girl to hold on. She turned ran up the stairs to get her wallet and walked back to the girl. She handed her a 5.00 and shut the door.

She picked up the dress bag by the hanger and walked back to the bedroom to hang it up in the closet. Unzipping the white bag, she noticed that it was a dark purple. If she remembered the shade was called Tokyo Purple.

Taking the dress out of the bag, she noticed that it was dress that she was looking at online last month when she was looking for something to wear to a cocktail party that Ellen, her best friend was throwing. How did Mulder know, she wondered. How did he know it was a halter jersey dress?

This dress wasn't her style in anyway, but it was a fleeting moment of wanted be different, maybe even feel sexy for once. She could never see herself in this dress, especially a dress that had no back other than the strap that went around her neck and on top of that, the back went all the way down just enough to cover her tattoo. Oh yes, the wonderful tattoo that Mulder had yet to get a close look at.

She laid the dress flat on the foot of the bed and went into the bathroom to do her makeup and hair. She wondered to herself why she was going to lengths to actually look good. Maybe Mulder knew what she wanted; what she needed. He just wanted her to enjoy her "vacation", and damnit she was going to with or without him; although it would have been more enjoyable with him.

She had decided to go a little darker on the makeup, but not by much. She didn't want to look like she was attracting anyone. And her hair was going to stay down. She noticed that there were some light curls in the long red hair. For a second, she looked in the mirror and thought of getting the hair bobbed like she had it for several years before they ran from the government. Thank God that was over, she thought.

After finishing in the bathroom, she went to get her dress and put it on. That was when she heard the room phone ring. "Shit, it's that time, isn't it?" she asked herself out loud.

Picking up the phone, she could hear the same kid from earlier tell her that the cab was there.

"All right. Tell them to give me a few minutes and I will be right down. Thanks." She said as she was hanging up the phone.

She looked over at the bag and noticed a piece of paper hanging from the metal hook with an arrow pointing down. She walked over to and looked in the bottom, and there were a pair of platform peep toed sandal heels matching the same color of the dress and a little handheld purse. These heels would add almost 4 inches to her height.

She put the dress and shoes on. Before leaving, she gave herself a second look in the mirror. She turned around and was relieved that the tattoo was covered. She felt confident enough, since she really wasn't trying to impress anyone other than herself.

20 minutes later, the cab dropped her off if front of Palisades. Shut the door behind her after giving the cabbie his money and walked into the restaurant.

Walking up to the hostess, she told her that there was a reservation for Scully.

The hostess was a tall blond that had to be at least 6 feet and towered over Scully. She looked up and told Scully to follow her and asked how she was doing with a grin covering her face. She new what was going on, but Scully still had no idea. She just wanted to put everything aside and enjoy the evening having a good dinner and a couple of drinks.

"Your table, Ms. Scully, is in the Orchid room. It is really beautiful this time at night. A lot of sailboats that are crossing the sound have the Christmas lights on them this time of year for the Fourth of July coming up. Just a little tradition here in Seattle. If you need anymore lighting, let me know." Said the hostess the whole time facing away from Scully.

She opened the door to the orchid room and looked over at a corner table and noticed a gentleman sitting alone. She shook her head thinking that it may be Mulder. But she knew that it couldn't be. At least she thought that it couldn't be until the hostess stood next to a chair at the same table.

She started to sit down as Mulder said "It's about time you got here. I figured you would back out and stay in your room and pout for the next three days", with a smile covering his face.

She was dumfounded and secretly hoping that this would happen, but put it in that back of her brain so that she would not get her hopes up. "What is this all about Mulder?"

He could see tears starting to well up in her eyes. "As you can tell, I did receive your envelope, but figured your would like this. I'm sorry if I ruined your plans for the evening. So, what do you think? I met a nice gentleman that was willing to let me share a cab with him. I asked him if he could tell me of a great restaurant, and this is what he suggested."

"Well, I do like that it's right on the water." She said as a waitress came up to them and asked what they would like to drink.

Mulder asked her for the Tawny Port and winked at her. Thankfully for Mulder, Scully was admiring the lit up sail boats passing by just as the hostess had promised so she hadn't notice the little wink.

The hostess walked away, and Mulder took Scully's hands in his. "Mulder, what is this really about?" Her eyebrow arched, which mean that she was perplexed. She could not figure out he was really up to.

"Scully, you deserve this with everything that has happened to you in the last few months. Plus, when you came out to help me last night in the kitchen, you didn't deserve the part with me yelling at you."

The girl walked through the door holding a round tray with two full glasses, an ice bucket and a bottle of the port wine. She put the bucket down first on the edge of the table, put the bottle in it to chill, put Mulder's glass in front of him, and put Scully's in front of her. During this time, Mulder still holding her hands and keeping her attention.

The waitress turned to walk away. Mulder picked his glass up and took a sip. Scully followed. She felt a piece of pink ribbon fall over her fingers and heard something clank against the glass, scaring her. She pulled the glass away from her mouth and noticed that at the end of the ribbon there was a silver three stone ring. She looked at it, then at Mulder, then at it, and back at Mulder.

Mulder just sat in his chair, holding her free hand, and said as he try to untie the ring while shaking from nervousness "Dana, I don't want you to feel alone any longer. Will you marry me?"

A tear ran down her cheek. She couldn't believe that this was finally happening after 15 years. With their relationship, they might as well have been married. They had gone through so much in that time; deaths, abductions, the dreaded Flukeman, etc.

"Do you really have to ask?" Her voice was so shaky along with her hands. Between the two of them shaking, it was really a wonder how Mulder was able to put the ring on her finger. At that point, he got up from his seat and kneeled down, took her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. He could feel the heat radiating from her entire body.

Standing up, he motioned for her hand with his. He told her to follow him. Opening the door to the deck, they crossed the threshold and walked to the edge. He pulled her close to him and held her facing him so tight . "You look so beautiful tonight. I'm glad everything fit."

"I was wondering about that Mulder. How did you know that this was the dress that I wanted?" She said looking up at his face. The heels still didn't help much at closing the height gap between the two of them.

"Remember the night that I came over with the movie Pan's Labyrinth? You dropped the spaghetti all over yourself and decided to take a shower. Well, since I needed to look something up on the net, I got on your computer. That was when I saw the picture of the dress and noticed that you had cancelled the order and wondered why. I wasn't sure about the shoes though, but they look good on you. I truly did not know that I was going to need to know that dress, but it helped that every night I went to bed, I had a picture of you wearing it embedded in my thoughts."

"Thank you F--"

Mulder put a finger over her tiny mouth and said "I even make my parents call me Mulder." with a glaring grin covering his face.

"Oh, our foods here. I hope you like lobster. It's the Australian rock lobster tail. Apparently it's to die for here."

Scully didn't really care for it too much, but she wasn't going to mention it. She sat down and notice the bread and side salad. She was almost too excited to eat. All she cold do was stare at the ring. It was a three stoned ring that wasn't too big. She noticed the miniscule diamonds embedded in the top of the band surrounding the three main diamonds.

They got done with the dinners a few too many glasses of wine and were getting ready to leave. They were close to front entrance when Scully dropped her purse. She bent over and Mulder couldn't stop staring at her perfectly round butt. It was almost hypnotizing.

They got out side and started Mulder tried to hail a cab, but Scully kept trying to kiss and hug him. Thankfully it wasn't as hard as it was to get a cab at there airport, since they could not get back to the hotel quick enough. They knew what was on each other's minds.

When they got in, Mulder told the cabbie "The W hotel and the quicker you get us there alive the bigger the tip."

Maybe they had a little too much wine, but it was worth it so far.

Scully was fumbling all over her little purse to find the keycard. There was nothing. "Shit…I was in such a hurry to get out of here, that I forgot it on the nightstand."

"Stay here, I will run down and get another keycard." Mulder said as he had to push himself away from Scully.

"Is this really happening? I am so confused right now and don't know why. Yes, I'm happy that this is happening, but--ugh, I can't think straight right now." If there were any passersby in the hall, they would have thought that she was some crazy lady that liked talking to herself. All she could do is just wait, and she leaned her back against the door, waiting impatiently.

A minute later her cell phone rang. She opened up her purse once again and got the phone out. She flipped it open and answered "Future Mrs. Mulder here." with happiness in her voice for once.

"Hey, it's me. You need to tell them what happened. They don't TRUST me." Mulder said with a joking tone on the word trust.

She laughed and told the concierge what had happened.

A few minutes later, Mulder popped out of the elevator. She was so happy to see him finally. "What did I always say, Scully? Trust no one. They must have talked to me in the past." He said as he was sliding the keycard through the slot.

He opened up the door and a light flickered on. "Holy crap! This place is HUGE! Now I can see why this hotel is so expensive. This living room is bigger than my apartment." She ran past him and told him to meet her in the bedroom in about 5 minutes.

She ran up the stairs and knew exactly what she was going for. She was excited that she could wear the corset that she had bought earlier, since she had thought after the incident of Mulder playing it off that he wasn't coming and that it was a waste of money.

It took her five minutes to change; although she almost fell a couple of times due to the alcohol consumption. She thought to herself 'okay, there are reasons that I don't drink wine, and this is one.' She walked into the bedroom and laid on her back in the center of the bed. She yelled for Mulder.

"I'm on my way." He said as she could hear the stairs creaking from his steps. "Scully, this place is absolutely enormous for be--" He stopped what he was saying as soon as he peered around the corner and spotted her. He could feel a lump rising in his throat along with something else that was rising as he was looking her up and down.

He walked over and laid on the bed next Scully and noticed that the burgundy fabric against the pale skin seemed to play as one, almost like the corset was painted on her to body. He started tracing the stitched black flower patterns on the corset with his index finger so lightly.

Scully sat up on her left elbow and took Mulder's hand with her right. Bringing his hand up to her mouth, she kissed his palm. While doing this, she could not look away from his darkened eyes.

He pulled his hand from hers and pulled her left arm out from under her. When he looked at her hand, the ring was almost a shock. He was not used to a ring being around that finger. He had held her hand for a second and then proceeded to run his hand through her long, semi-curly hair.

This was all something that he had to almost re-teach himself on, not remembering the last time he was with a woman. Sure, everyone in the FBI took the meaning of partnership out of context when it came to Mulder and Scully, but that does not mean that they were anything more than partners until this night. And what a night it was going to be.

Three days in Seattle: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Scully has black two piece for swimming and she bought a black and navy blue silk and lace underwear set and a burgundy strapless corset. Mulder had the cab take him to the nearest jewelry store after the flight and after paul was dropped off. Mulder gets a cold.


End file.
